In Stitches

"Did I miss something?" The doctor asked as he walked in making Rainbow jump much to her body's protest.

"Nope, her battery isn't going to last much longer though. Should we change it out?"

"What is it at?"

"20%"

"That'll last 45 minutes at least. Bring the other one just in case"

"You aren't going to make me walk are you?" The mare whimpered.

"I know Rainbow, but it's for your own good" The doctor replied

"Fine, help me up"

***

Getting up was painful, worse still was the walk. She had refused to let Rachel carry her battery instead holding the handle in her jaw while limping along. The trip took half an hour, but it felt like much longer.

"Are we almost there?" She asked through the handle.

"Front door is right here."

"We are going outside?"

"My friend has his lab set up in the back of a trailer."

"Wh- Who is he?"

"His name is Cogsworth"

She stopped. She knew that name, why did she know that name? "Do... Do I know him?"

"You should! He was the pony that helped me drag you out of the lake."

"I... I think I remember that."

"He hasn't seen you since though, the sky lords had him off on some quest."

"The who?" She asked

"Later. Come on."

She started to walk again her hooves hitting dirt.

"Is that her?" An unknown but familiar voice called out making her jump yet again.

"Yes it is my friend, try to keep it down though, she doesn't like new ponies all that much"

"Well? Bring her in. Lets see what we can do here."

"This way Rainbow." He lead her to a ramp and into what sounded like a wooden trailer, there were all sorts of bubbling noises and whirs and hisses.

"Alright, bring her up on the table" He said trying to keep his voice gentle.

"Rachel, can you watch the kids?" He asked as he helped her up.

"Okay, see you guys later then" She heard the dragon wander off and a distant door close.

"So how have things been Cogsworth?"

"Well I can say I owe you quite a bit of money."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"You'll never guess what I found." He said and there was a sound of something being picked up.

"The flower! You found it!"

"You have no idea what I had to do for this thing."

"I want to hear all about it. Later though."

"Right. What needs to be done"

"Well we have to figure out a mechanical lung and some kind of power source that doesn't drain so fast."

"Well it wouldn't be cheap but we could get a magical ion battery from the lightning catchers."

"An ion battery? You want to put an ion battery inside a pony?"

"Better than having her plugged into a wall or carrying that thing the rest of her life"

"True." They continued back and forth for a while but Rainbow zoned out, listening to all the other noises around her, she only snapped out of it when she felt her wings touched.

"OUCH!" She yelped. Recoiling away.

"Sorry miss, just trying to see what i can do about these." He replied

"B- Be careful... They hurt. A lot."

"It looks like it. Just hang tight alright."

"Yup. On it." She said now quite board. She could hear them talking but wasn't listening. She would pick up bits and pieces that sounded like they planned to fill her with new bones or something. She would feel them poking at her every now and then and did her best to just ignore them. She heard some loud beeping, one of them was holding a device right were her wings connected to her body.

"Strange. I have never seen a magic signal like that in a pony before."

"Magic? Why would I have magic?"

"I would expect it has to do with flight" The doctor purposed.

"Seems solid to me" Cogsworth replied.

"Doesn't matter why you have it, it means your body could recharge a M-Ion battery on it's own." He said sounding excited.

"I actually happen to have one here if you are willing to use and IOU" Cogsworth said.

"I think that will do fine, I'll get the logic controllers and what not together"

Rainbow was bored again, she continued to listen to the beeps and noises of her surroundings. "Come on. There has to be SOMETHING I can do here." she thought. She found something sticky on the corner of the bed and started to pick at it.

***

"Come on Rainbow, time to go" The doctor said trying to get her attention.

"Wait what?" She asked

"Time to go back to the house."

"I thought you guys were doing some kind of procedure or something."

"Oh no no no. Not today, we have to make sure your body accepts your new filters and wiring first"

"Then why did I come out here?" She protested

"To take measurements for parts and whatnot."

"Great. How long will I have to wait then?" She groaned

"Probably a few weeks or so, depends on how well you do." He said mater of factually.

"So you mean to say you are just going to leave me how I am?" She asked

"What's wrong with that?"

"I don't know, how about needing to be stuck to a battery 24/7 to stay alive?"

"Oh no no no! We built you a wall charger!"

She was completely dumbfounded. "He's joking, he has to be joking" She thought "Okay, I'm done. Take me home so i can sleep off all this garbage."

"Ooooo... someone is getting a bit bitter" Cogsworth said.

Rainbow jumped right off the bed in shock and the two strong earth ponies caught her.

"It's okay Rainbow. You know him." The doctor said slowly "you are safe"

"I'm fine! I- I was just getting up is all." She said trying to recover her pride.

"You sure you are okay?"

"Yeah... Can you take me back to my room now? And no, you are not carrying anything for me" She said stubbornly.

"Oh alright, follow me"

With that, Rainbow picked up her battery and started for home.